CHARLOTTE, N.C. — NASCAR officials are reviewing a late-race incident at Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series event at Phoenix Raceway involving Denny Hamlin and Ross Chastain, series officials said Tuesday.
Elton Sawyer, NASCAR's senior vice president of competition, told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio that he was aware of comments Hamlin made about his run-in with Chastain on his podcast, "Actions Detrimental."
"Without a doubt it's on our radar," Sawyer said. "Last night late, this information was provided to me."
Hamlin and Chastain have had several run-ins on the track since last season. Following an incident at WWT Raceway in St. Louis last summer, Hamlin intentionally slowed down and tried to run Chastain off the track. The two again ran into each other while racing for the lead at Pocono. And if that wasn't enough, Chastain spun Hamlin at the Busch Light Clash in February.
Their most recent run-in happened in overtime of Sunday's United Rentals 500 at Phoenix. Hamlin said a pit call to only change two tires put him in a bad position for the restart.
"My car plowed. What it means is that I turned the wheel and the front tires were going straight and they were calling the 1 car on the outside," Hamlin said. "At that point, I knew I was screwed. I was about to go backward. I had all the four-tire cars on my ass, they were going to pass me more than likely in the next corner ... I'm probably running sixth or seventh and I'm about to get passed by everybody behind me who's on fresh tires. I'm about to finish in the mid-teens and I said, 'you're coming with me, buddy.'"
Hamlin finished 23rd with Chastain 24th. Neither driver has a win that would lock them into the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.
Hamlin and Chastain's incident wasn't an immediate talking point for fans after the race but it quickly turned into a trending topic after Hamlin's podcast shed light on what exactly went down. During the conversation, Hamlin said he met with Chastain at one point last season over breakfast to hash out their problems.
He also clarified that he didn't "wreck" Chastain when a fan commented on Twitter about it.
Ultimately, Hamlin called for a truce with Chastain after the race, but while these two drivers might have agreed to move on, it's up to NASCAR to decide if any penalties are necessary.
"We'll decide how we go forward," Sawyer said. "That's about all I can say. It came to me late last night. I'm aware of it, we'll dissect it and figure out where we go."
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